11.   Because he runs a sports consulting firm, questions have also been raised about the potential for conflict of interest.

12.   Besides Wagner, the other researchers who cracked the code were Bruce Schneier and John Kelsey of Counterpane Systems, a Minneapolis consulting firm.

13.   Blechman is president of DFI International, the Washington consulting firm that prepared a confidential report for the Commerce Department in December on technology transfers to China.

14.   A corporate identity firm was consulted, and the company name was changed to Vivendi.

15.   A group of economics professors at the University of California at Berkeley hope to become multimillionaires by selling stock in their Emeryville consulting firm to the public.

16.   A second institution that binds the cosmocracy together is the professional service firm, consulting firms especially.

17.   A survey by WSL Strategic Retail, a New York consulting firm, illustrates just how deeply ingrained Wal-Mart has become in American shopping habits.

18.   After the offering, planned for December, LECG will be the only independent, publicly held economics consulting firm.

19.   Agreements binding the accounting and consulting firms designate the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce as the place to settle differences between the two, Shaheen said.